Could Bronze Age mummies have been smoked and buried in British peat bogs? Experts say mummifying could have been widespread
This article originally appeared on Culture24.
Two buried bodies found in South Uist, Scotland could show mummification in prehistoric Britain
© Cambridge Archaeological UnitMicroscopic analysis has revealed “immaculate” levels of preservation in the bones and soft tissue of bodies found in the South Hebrides, leading experts to suggest that they could have been burnt or interred in peat as part of prehistoric burial rituals.
“Our research shows that smoking over a fire and purposeful burial within a peat bog are among some of the techniques ancient Britons may have used to mummify their dead,” says Dr Tom Booth, who has investigated skeletons at several Bronze Age burial sites across the UK, comparing their bacterial erosion to the Yemeni body and a partial mummification recovered from a sphagnum bog in County Roscommon.
© Bradley Fen“To help address this, our team has found that by using microscopic bone analysis archaeologists can determine whether a skeleton has been previously mummified even when it is buried in an environment that isn’t favourable to mummified remains.
“We know from previous research that bones from bodies that have decomposed naturally are usually severely degraded by putrefactive bacteria, whereas mummified bones demonstrate immaculate levels of histological preservation and are not affected by putrefactive bioerosion.
© Geoff Morley“It’s possible that our method may allow us to identify further ancient civilisations that mummified their dead.”
Mummies in Bronze Age Britain
- This is one of the first studies to indicate that mummification could have been widely practised throughout Bronze Age Britain – at the same time as its prevalence in Ancient Egypt.
- The two mummified Bronze Age bodies - a man and woman - were originally found in 2011, buried under the floor of a prehistoric house on South Uist.
- Teams from the University of Manchester and University College London took part in the University of Sheffield-led research.
- The male died in around 1,600 BC, but was only buried 600 years later. The female died in around 1,300 BC, remaining uninterred for 300 years.
- The findings suggest that exotic, novel and bizarre funerary rituals were practised commonly for hundreds of years.
- Other mummifying techniques could have included evisceration, in which organs were removed shortly after death.
- Archaeologists hope to use the analysis technique to continue searching for Bronze Age mummies throughout Europe.
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Three museums to meet mummies in
Hands on History, Hull
The Ancient Egypt gallery in the Old Grammar School displays a genuine Egyptian mummy and an excellent collection of full-size replicas of the treasures from the tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhamen made by Hull craftsmen for the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924.
Oriental Museum, Durham
While younger visitors are playing with the toy pyramid and temple or trying out a word search, others can enjoy looking at amulets, animal mummies and exquisite jewellery. There's also a giant game of senet, played by the ancient Egyptians.
Weston Park, Sheffield
The current exhibition, Secret Egypt: Unravelling Truth from Myth, brings together 150 objects from animal and human mummies to ceramics and jewellery, allowing visitors to explore a range of fascinating archaeological evidence to revaluate what they understand about this remarkable civilisation.
